Ardbeg Celebrates 25 Years of the Ardbeg Committee With the Launch of Ardbeg Eureka!
Ardbeg is celebrating 25 years of the Ardbeg Committee – its community of 200,000 strong fans – with the launch of Ardbeg Eureka!
Before it could craft a bottling celebrating the Ardbeg Committee, Ardbeg’s whisky creators had to collect the Committee’s feedback. A select group of members were summoned to a hidden corner of the distillery on Ardbeg Day 2023, to take part in an experiment named Operation Smokescreen. At the event, 100 members from 15 different countries were tasked with tasting and discussing five secret samples of Ardbeg. Then Dr Bill Lumsden, Ardbeg’s Director of Whisky Creation, and Master Blender Gillian Macdonald took the findings back to their sensory laboratory and challenged themselves to craft a bottling representing the Committee’s multi-faceted preferences.
The result? Ardbeg Eureka! The limited edition whisky combines spirit aged in Pedro Ximénez sherry casks with roasted malt spirit matured in bourbon casks and is presented NCF (non-chill filtered) and bottled at 52.2% ABV.
Official tasting notes for Ardbeg Eureka! follow:
Nose: Full and fruity on the nose with cherry and juicy red apple. Caramel infused coffee grounds and cocoa powder are softened by a subtle backdrop of heather bonfire and hand rolled sweet tobacco leaves. There are some herbal notes like cedar and fennel present in the distant background. With water, dark chocolate and walnut oil come through and more smoke emerges through the sweeter fruits. Like walking alongside a road that’s being freshly tarred!
Palate: An explosion of sweet flavors like nut toffee brittle, raisin fudge and dark fruits (fig, damson and plump cherries) is balanced with a rockpool salinity. Dark chocolate coated raisins lead into chicory and sweet cinnamon spices alongside a curious drying sensation. The smoke builds up to a crescendo of sweet applewood and a medicinal iodine, burnt moss and ash.
Finish: The finish is long and chewy with sweet treacle toffee aniseed spice, coal tar soap and burning embers.
Ardbeg Eureka! will be available beginning February 27th for a suggested retail price of $84.99.
Source: Ardbeg.